Material moving apparatus, systems and methods

ABSTRACT

Material moving apparatus, systems and methods are presented which can include an air material mover. Airflow through orifices can create a localized vacuum such that the uppermost or top layer of material can be separated from the stack of material. The airflow can interact with the material to produce flutter, which assists in separating lower layers from the uppermost layer. A material gripper can grip the uppermost or top layer of material for removal from the stack and repositioning in a work area.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present disclosure is generally related to the automation ofmaterial manipulation using robotic systems. More specifically, thedisclosure is related to apparatuses, systems and methods that canmanipulate stacked materials to allow a gripper to secure and transporta layer of material to a desired work area.

BACKGROUND

Automated processing often relies on the separation of a single layer ofmaterial, however separating one layer of material from a stack usingautomated methods is difficult. The difficulty depends on the propertiesof the material (e.g., stiffness, construction, thread type, interlayerentanglement, etc.), which not only vary based on the target materialbut also by environmental differences during operation. Prior to thedevelopment of material processing machines, humans used fingers to pickone layer and eyes to verify that only one layer was picked. Currentdevices used in material separation, such as claw, vacuum, needle, orroller grippers often damage the material or are susceptible to theabove-mentioned material variations leading to inconsistencies inperformance.

The subject matter discussed in the background section should not beassumed to be prior art merely as a result of its mention in thebackground section. Similarly, a problem mentioned in the backgroundsection or associated with the subject matter of the background sectionshould not be assumed to have been previously recognized in the priorart. The subject matter in the background section merely representsdifferent approaches, which in and of themselves may also correspond toimplementations of the claimed technology.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings illustrate various examples of systems,methods, and embodiments of various other aspects of the disclosure. Anyperson with ordinary skills in the art will appreciate that theillustrated element boundaries (e.g., boxes, groups of boxes, or othershapes) in the figures represent one example of the boundaries. It maybe that in some examples one element may be designed as multipleelements or that multiple elements may be designed as one element. Insome examples, an element shown as an internal component of one elementmay be implemented as an external component in another, and vice versa.Furthermore, elements may not be drawn to scale. Non-limiting andnon-exhaustive descriptions are described with reference to thefollowing drawings. The components in the figures are not necessarily toscale, emphasis instead being placed upon illustrating principles.Moreover, in the drawings, like reference numerals designatecorresponding parts throughout the several views.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a robotic system, according to variousembodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a de-stack module, according to variousembodiments of the present disclosure.

FIGS. 3-5 illustrate an example of a material moving apparatus,according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Disclosed herein are various examples related to automation of sewingusing sewing robots. Some embodiments of this disclosure, illustratingits features, will now be discussed in detail. The words “comprising,”“having,” “containing,” and “including,” and other forms thereof, areintended to be equivalent in meaning and be open ended in that an itemor items following any one of these words is not meant to be anexhaustive listing of such item or items, or meant to be limited to onlythe listed item or items.

It must also be noted that as used herein and in the appended claims,the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” include plural references unlessthe context clearly dictates otherwise. Although any systems and methodssimilar or equivalent to those described herein can be used in thepractice or testing of embodiments of the present disclosure, thepreferred systems and methods are now described.

Embodiments of the present disclosure will be described more fullyhereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings in which likenumerals represent like elements throughout the several figures, and inwhich example embodiments are shown. Embodiments of the claims may,however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construedas limited to the embodiments set forth herein. The examples set forthherein are non-limiting examples and are merely examples among otherpossible examples.

Referring to FIG. 1, shown is an example of a system that can be usedfor material manipulation and sewing. As illustrated in the example ofFIG. 1, the system can comprise a robotic system 102, which can includea processor 104, memory 106, an interface such as, e.g., a human machineinterface (HMI) 108, I/O device(s) 110, networking device(s) 112, asewing device 114, material mover(s) 116, secondary operation device(s)118, vision device(s) 120, and a local interface 122. The visiondevice(s) 120 can comprise a sensor and/or camera 124 such as, e.g., anRGB camera, an RGB-D camera, a near infrared (NIR) camera, stereoscopiccamera, photometric stereo camera (single camera with multipleillumination options), time of flight camera, IP camera, light-fieldcamera, monorail camera, multiplane camera, rapatronic camera, stillcamera, thermal imaging camera, acoustic camera, rangefinder camera,etc. The robotic system 102 can also include a de-stacker module 126,which can be executed to implement manipulation of stacked materials,and a material moving apparatus 128, which can comprise an actuator bar130, an air material mover 132 and/or a material gripper 134.

The robotic system 102 can grip a piece of product material and move itto a work area through the de-stacker module 126. The air material mover132 can separate an uppermost (or top) layer of stacked material forgripping and transport to the work area. The material gripper 134 cansecure the material during transport and release it at the desiredlocation in the work area for further processing. If additional materialis desired, the de-stacker module 126 can repeat the process to obtainthe next piece of material from the stack, by the robotic system 102.

The processor 104 can be configured to decode and execute anyinstructions received from one or more other electronic devices orservers. The processor can include one or more general-purposeprocessors (e.g., INTEL® or Advanced Micro Devices® (AMD)microprocessors) and/or one or more special purpose processors (e.g.,digital signal processors or Xilinx® System on Chip (SOC) fieldprogrammable gate array (FPGA) processor). The processor 104 may beconfigured to execute one or more computer-readable programinstructions, such as program instructions to carry out any of thefunctions described in this description.

The Memory 106 can include, but is not limited to, fixed (hard) drives,magnetic tape, floppy diskettes, optical disks, Compact Disc Read-OnlyMemories (CD-ROMs), and magneto-optical disks, semiconductor memories,such as ROMs, Random Access Memories (RAMs), Programmable Read-OnlyMemories (PROMs), Erasable PROMs (EPROMs), Electrically Erasable PROMs(EEPROMs), flash memory, magnetic or optical cards, or other type ofmedia/machine-readable medium suitable for storing electronicinstructions. The Memory 106 can comprise one or more modules that canbe implemented as a program executable by processor(s) 104.

The interface(s) or HMI 108 can either accept inputs from users orprovide outputs to the users or may perform both the actions. In onecase, a user can interact with the interface(s) using one or moreuser-interactive objects and devices. The user-interactive objects anddevices may comprise user input buttons, switches, knobs, levers, keys,trackballs, touchpads, cameras, microphones, motion sensors, heatsensors, inertial sensors, touch sensors, or a combination of the above.Further, the interface(s) can either be implemented as a command lineinterface (CLI), a graphical user interface (GUI), a voice interface, ora web-based user-interface, at element 108.

The input/output devices or I/O devices 110 of the robotic system 102can comprise components used to facilitate connections of the processor104 to other devices such as, e.g., sewing device 114, material mover(s)116, secondary operation device(s) 118 and/or vision device(s) 120 andfor instance, can comprise one or more serial, parallel, small systeminterface (SCSI), universal serial bus (USB), IEEE 1394 (i.e. Firewire™)connection elements, or other appropriate connection elements.

The networking device(s) 112 of the robotic system 102 can comprise thevarious components used to transmit and/or receive data over a network.The networking device(s) 112 can include a device that can communicateboth inputs and outputs, for instance, a modulator/demodulator (i.e.modem), a radio frequency (RF) or infrared (IR) transceiver, atelephonic interface, a bridge, a router, as well as a network card,etc.

The sewing device 114 of the robotic system 102 facilitates sewing theproduct materials together and can be configured to sew a perimeter,along markings on the product material, or other paths based on trackinga generated pattern. In additional embodiments, the sewing device 114can include a knife device in order to cut threads, stitches, materialsfrom the workpiece etc. The material mover(s) 116, of the robotic system102 can facilitate moving the product material(s) during the cutting andsewing operations, at element 116. The secondary operation device(s) 118can include stacking device(s), folding device(s), label manipulationdevice(s), and/or other device(s) that assist with the preparation,making and/or finishing of the sewn product.

The vision device(s) 120 of the robotic system 102 can facilitatedetecting the movement of the product material(s) and inspecting theproduct material(s) for defects and/or discrepancies during a sewing andcutting operation. Further, the vision device(s) 120 can facilitatedetecting markings on the product before cutting or sewing the material.A vision device 120 can comprise, but is not limited to, an RGB-Dcamera, near IR camera, time of flight camera, Internet protocol (IP)camera, light-field camera, monorail camera, multiplane camera,rapatronic camera, stereo camera, still camera, thermal imaging camera,acoustic camera, rangefinder camera, etc., at element 120. The RGB-Dcamera is a digital camera that can provide color (RGB) and depthinformation for pixels in an image.

The local interface 122 of the robotic system 102 can be, for example,but not limited to, one or more buses or other wired or wirelessconnections, as is known in the art. The local interface 122 can haveadditional elements, which are omitted for simplicity, such ascontrollers, buffers (caches), drivers, repeaters, and receivers, toenable communications. Further, the local interface 122 can includeaddress, control, and/or data connections to enable appropriatecommunications among the components, at element 122.

As shown in FIG. 1, the robotic system 102 includes a de-stack module126 which can control the material moving apparatus 128, as will bediscussed. The de-stack module 126 is a process that can be executed inorder to move an uppermost layer of a stack of material to a work areaor space using the material moving apparatus 128. An actuator bar 130can be used for moving a piece of material from a stack of productmaterials to the work area. A material gripper 134 attached to theactuator bar 130 can secure the piece of material and move it onto aworkspace. Examples of the material gripper 134 include, e.g., apinching style gripper, electro-adhesive gripper, or needle gripper,among others. An air material mover 132 can also be attached to theactuator bar 122. The air material mover 132 can be formed with orificesthat exit the surface at a low angle, for example, in a range from 0degrees to about 30 degrees. Air provided to the air material mover 132blows through the formed orifices where, upon exiting, it creates alocalized vacuum (e.g. an area of lower than ambient pressure) thatlifts the product material toward the air material mover 132 allowing anuppermost piece of the material to be captured by the material gripper134. A combination of multiple orifices that provide air jets at varyingheights and pressures can tailor the desired material behavior tofurther assist in layer separation.

Functioning of the de-stack module 126 of the robotic system 102 willnow be explained with reference to FIG. 2. One skilled in the art willappreciate that, for this and other processes and methods disclosedherein, the functions performed in the processes and methods may beimplemented in differing order. Furthermore, the outlined steps andoperations are only provided as examples, and some of the steps andoperations may be rearranged, optional, combined into fewer steps andoperations, or expanded into additional steps and operations withoutdetracting from the essence of the disclosed embodiments.

The flow chart of FIG. 2 shows the architecture, functionality, andoperation of a possible implementation of the de-stack module 126. Theprocess begins at 202 with the controller positioning the actuator bar130 being moved to the stack of product material, e.g., by a controllerof the material moving apparatus 128 or actuator bar 130. For example,the actuator bar 130 can be positioned over the stack of the materialsat 202 using an industrial robot, a robotic arm, linear actuator, orother controlled mechanical linkages and/or actuators. Industrial robotsinclude, e.g., articulated robots, selective compliance assembly robots(SCARA), delta robots, and cartesian coordinate robots (e.g., gantryrobots or x-y-z robots). Industrial robots can be programmed to carryout repetitive actions with a high degree of accuracy or can exhibitmore flexibility by utilizing, e.g., machine vision and machinelearning. Then at 204, the actuator bar 130 is positioned towards thematerial stack. The controller can lower the actuator bar 130 downtowards the stack of materials at 204. In another embodiment, thematerial stack may be actuated upwards towards the actuator bar 130.

Next, at 206 the de-stack module 126 can activate the air material mover132, which provides airflow across the uppermost layer of the stack ofmaterials. The airflow causes separation between the uppermost layer andthe rest of the stack of materials and may also cause flutter in theuppermost layer. The fluttering (or other motion along the edge of thematerial) can assist in separating the lower ply(s) from the uppermostlayer for gripping, and is caused in large part by turbulent flow alongthe boundaries of the airstream In some embodiments, the air materialmover 132 may be activated prior to the process. In some embodiments,the air material mover 132 may be continuously activated so that thereis always airflow provided through the air material mover 132, at 206.

At 208, the de-stack module 126 can initiate (or activate) operation ofthe material gripper 134. In some embodiments, the material gripper 134can be a clamp, pinching gripper, electro-adhesive gripper, or needlegripper or other appropriates gripping mechanism. In other embodiments,a plurality of the same or different gripping mechanisms may be used.The material gripper 134 can be connected to the actuator bar 130 or canbe connected to a separate actuator bar or end effector. For example,the uppermost layer of the material stack can be secured by the materialgripper 134 attached to the actuator bar 130. The air material mover 132can separate the uppermost layer to allow the material gripper 134 tosecure the material at 210 for transport. Then the de-stack module 126can deactivate the air material mover 132. In some embodiments, the airmaterial mover 132 may not be de-activated and may be activatedcontinuously during the de-stacking process, e.g., from 208-214.

The actuator bar 130 can be moved to the work area or space to transportthe gripped piece of material at 212. The actuator bar 130 moves to thework area with the uppermost layer of the stack of materials secured bymaterial gripper 134. Once the actuator bar 130 is over a predeterminedlocation on the work area, the material gripper 134 can be deactivated,releasing the piece of material on the work area at 214. It anotherpiece of material is desired at 216, the process returns to 202 wherethe next piece of product material can be gripped and moved to the workarea. If another piece is not needed, then the process ends.

Functioning of an example of material mover apparatus will now beexplained with reference to FIGS. 3-5. One skilled in the art canappreciate that, for this and other processes and methods disclosedherein, the functions performed in the processes and methods may beimplemented in differing order. Furthermore, the outlined steps andoperations are only provided as examples, and some of the steps andoperations may be optional, combined into fewer steps and operations, orexpanded into additional steps and operations without detracting fromthe essence of the disclosed embodiments.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example of an air material mover 132 of therobotic system 102 which can be attached to the actuator bar 130 asshown in FIG. 4. The air material mover comprises one or more airchambers with one or more formed orifices 302 that exit an outer surface304 of the air material mover 132 at a low angle θ, for example, in arange from 0 degrees to about 30 degrees. Compressed air (or other gas)can be provided to the one or more air chambers, which channels thecompressed air to the outlets 302 where the air is expelled parallel to(or at a low angle to) a surface of, e.g., the material. The curvedshape of the air material mover 132 allows the ejected air to travel atleast partially along the curvature of the outer surface 304 whichcreates a localized vacuum that lifts the uppermost (or top) piece ofthe material stack allowing the material to be captured by the materialgripper 134.

The compressed air (or other gas) can be inputted into the air materialmover 132 through, e.g., the top of the device at one or more airinput(s) 306 as depicted in FIG. 3, or at another appropriate locationon the air material mover 132. The air input(s) 306 can include achannel or channels to the air chamber(s) located within the airmaterial mover 132. In some embodiments, the compressed air maybestandard compressed air. In other embodiments, the compressed air can bedeionized compressed air. In various embodiments, the compressed air canbe static free compressed air and or dehumidified compressed air. In oneor more embodiments, the compressed air can be a combination ofcompressed airs such as, e.g., a mixture of standard compressed air anddeionized compressed air or other combination that can provide a desiredresult. The compressed air can be pre-mixed, mixed prior to entering theair chamber or mixed within the air inlet(s) 306 or the air chamber(s)of the air material mover 132.

The front of the air material mover 132 can be shaped as a curve inorder to cause the air ejected from the outlets or orifices 302 totravel upwards on the air material mover 132. In other embodiments, thefront of the air mover may be shaped as a flat, sloped face. In yetother embodiments, the front of the air mover may be shaped as acombination of curves and/or flat, sloped faces. This airflow canmanipulate the piece of material in the stack to lift, flutter, or movein a manner that assists in separating the layers and makes itcapturable by the material gripper 134 as will be discussed. The airmaterial mover 132 can be positioned, e.g., by the actuator bar 130 ontop of (or over) the stack materials near an edge of the stack ofproduct materials. This can allow for manipulation of the edge of thematerials while restraining a portion of the top layer of the material.

The air orifices 302 of the air material mover 132 are positioned alonga length of the device in an array to provide manipulation of the entireedge of the top layered material. The air orifices 302 exit the devicesurface at a low angle θ, for example, in a range from 0 degrees toabout 30 degrees. The compressed air upon exiting the orifices 302creates a localized vacuum that lifts the material in the stack. In someembodiments, the air input(s) 306 can be activated or deactivated tocontrol which portions of the material are manipulated. In someembodiments, the air orifices may be activated in groups orindependently to achieve the desired material manipulation. In someembodiments, the air orifices may be arranged in 2 or more rows toachieve the desired material manipulation. In some embodiments, the airorifices may be arranged in a non-grid pattern to achieve the desiredmaterial manipulation.

The air material mover 132 can also include one or more sensor(s)configured to detect when the piece of material is drawn against (oradjacent to) the outer surface 304. Sensors can include, but are notlimited to, optical or electrical proximity sensors which can beincorporated into the air material mover 132. For example, the airmaterial mover 132 can include one or more recess or channel configuredto retain a sensor without restricting operation of the air materialmover 132. In the example of FIG. 3, the air material mover 132 includesa channel 308 that can contain a sensor such as, e.g., a fiber wire. Thesensor can detect the piece of material as it moves toward or over theouter surface 304 of the air material mover 132. Other types orcombinations of sensors can also be incorporated into the air materialmover 132.

Referring next to FIG. 4, shown is an example of the material movingapparatus 400 including air material mover 132 of FIG. 3. One skilled inthe art will appreciate that, for this and other processes and methodsdisclosed herein, the functions performed in the processes and methodsmay be implemented in differing order. Furthermore, the outlined stepsand operations are only provided as examples, and some of the steps andoperations may be optional, combined into fewer steps and operations, orexpanded into additional steps and operations without detracting fromthe essence of the disclosed embodiments.

FIG. 4 shows a cross-sectional view of the air material mover 132 whichcan be attached to an actuator bar 130. The air material mover 132 cancomprise one or more air chamber(s) 402 with formed orifices 302 thatexit the outer surface 304 at a low angle θ, for example, in a rangefrom 0 degrees to about 30 degrees. Compressed air provided to the oneor more air chamber(s) 402 via the air inlet(s) 306 can be channeled tothe outlets 302 which direct the air parallel to (or substantiallyparallel to) a surface of, e.g., the stack of material. The airchamber(s) 402 can direct the compressed air to provide a substantiallyeven distribution of airflow from the orifices 302. The curved shape ofthe air material mover 132 allows the ejected air to travel along thecurvature 404 of the outer surface 304 which creates a localized vacuumthat lifts the uppermost piece of the stack of product material, drawingit towards the air material mover 132. The resulting effect allows thepiece of material to be captured by the material gripper 134.

The compressed air can be provided through the top of the air materialmover 132. For example, the compressed air can flow through the airinput(s) 306, which can provide a channel to the air chamber 402 locatedwithin the air material mover 132. In various embodiments, thecompressed air can be standard compressed air. In some embodiments, thecompressed air can be deionized compressed air. In other embodiments,the compressed air can be static free compressed air. In someembodiments, the compressed air may be a combination of compressed air,for example a mixture of standard compressed air and deionizedcompressed, that can be pre-mixed, mixed prior to entering the airchamber 402 or mixed within the air chamber 402 of the air materialmover 132.

The front of the air material mover 132 can be shaped as a curveallowing the discharged air to travel upwards along the outer surface304 of the air material mover 132 thus manipulating the stacked materialto lift, flutter, or move in a manner that makes the uppermost (or top)piece of material capturable by, e.g., gripping or clamping elements 406of the material gripper 134. The air material mover 132 can bepositioned on top of the stack of product materials near an edge of thematerial pieces. This allows the edge of product materials to bemanipulated while restraining a portion of the top layer of thematerial.

An air chamber 402 which is located within the air material mover 132,receives the compressed air via the air input(s) 306 and channels it tothe air orifices 302. The air chamber 402 can extend along the internallength of the air material mover 132 and can include baffles to assistin evenly distributing the compressed air across the orifices 302. Insome embodiments a plurality of air chambers may exist within the airmaterial mover, connecting different sets of air orifices. The curvature404 of the air material mover 132 can be shaped to allow the airexpelled through the openings 302 to flow at a low angle to the surfaceupon exiting the air material mover 132 and follow the curvature of theouter surface 304. The directed airflow allows the top (or uppermost)layer of the stack of materials to flutter, lift, or move in a manner,separating the top layer from the lower layers and making it accessibleto be secured by the material gripper 134.

The air orifices 302 of the air material mover 132 are positioned alongits length in an array (e.g., one or more rows of one or more airorifices that can be distributed uniformly or non-uniformly across thelength of the air material mover 132) to provide manipulation of theedge of the top layer of stacked material. In some embodiments, a singleair orifice may be used. In other embodiments, air orifices may vary isshape, size and/or spacing. In some embodiment, air material movers 132may be positioned along more than one edge of the top layer of stackedmaterial. The orifices can be curved to redirect the compressed air inthe desired direction. For example, the air orifices 302 can exit alongthe bottom surface of the air material mover 132 at a low angle, forexample, in a range from 0 degrees to about 30 degrees. Upon exiting theorifices 302, the airflow creates a localized vacuum that can lift theedge of the material piece for gripping by the material gripper 134. Insome embodiments, the air input(s) 306 be activated or deactivated tocontrol which portions of the material are manipulated.

The material gripper 134 can secure a piece of stacked material in orderto move the piece of material into a workspace. In the example of FIG.4, the material gripper 134 is attached to the actuator bar 130. Thematerial gripper 134 includes gripping or clamping elements 406 that cansecure a section of a piece of material. The gripping elements 406 canbe pivotally mounted to the actuator bar 130 and operated by a linear orrotary actuator 408 coupled opposite the gripping or clamping elements406. Activation of the air material mover 132 causes the grippingelements 406 to pivot towards the outer surface 304 of the air materialmover 132 until the distal ends clamp the top layer of the stackedmaterial between the air material mover 132 and the material gripper134. In some embodiments, the material gripper 134 may be a pinchinggripper, electro-adhesive gripper, or needle gripper, or otherappropriate gripping device, with mounting and actuation appropriate tothat device.

The actuator bar 130 can be repositioned to transport the piece ofgripped material from the stack of product material to the work area forfurther processing by the robotic system 102. Actuator bar 130 may haveone or more air material mover(s) 132 and/or material grippers 134attached to it in order to secure the piece of material. The actuatorbar 130 can be positioned over the stack of material and lowered down toallow the air material mover 132 to contact the stack of materials. Insome embodiments, the stack can be lifted (or raised) towards the airmaterial mover 132. Once the top layer (or ply) of the stacked materialis secured between the material gripper 134 and the air material mover132, the actuator bar 130 can be lifted and positioned over a work areawhere the piece of material is placed by releasing the material gripper134.

Functioning of the material moving apparatus will now be furtherexplained with reference to FIG. 5. One skilled in the art willappreciate that, for this and other processes and methods disclosedherein, the functions performed in the processes and methods may beimplemented in differing order. Furthermore, the outlined steps andoperations are only provided as examples, and some of the steps andoperations may be optional, combined into fewer steps and operations, orexpanded into additional steps and operations without detracting fromthe essence of the disclosed embodiments.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example of the material moving apparatuscomprising an actuator bar 130, air material movers 132 and a materialgripper 134. The air material movers 132 are attached to the actuatorbar 130 and contain one or more air chambers with orifices 302 that exitthe outer surface 304 at a low angle, for example, in a range from 0degrees to about 30 degrees. When the air material mover 132 contactsthe top layer of the material stack, the air supply can be activatedthrough the de-stack module 126 (FIG. 2) which initiates the airflow totravel to the air input(s) 306 (FIG. 3) and through the air chamber 402(FIG. 4) to the surface orifices 302.

The air from the orifices 302 allow the top layer of the stackedmaterial to be manipulated in a manner that results in the materialfluttering or moving in a manner that facilitates gripping by thematerial gripper 134. The air supply may be compressed air provided tothe one or more air chambers 402, where the compressed air can bechanneled to outlets 302 which direct the air parallel to (orsubstantially parallel to) a surface. The curved shape of the airmaterial mover 132 allows for the discharged air to travel along thecurvature 404 (FIG. 4) of the air material mover 132 which creates alocalized vacuum that lifts the uppermost piece of material toward theouter surface 304 of the air material mover 132, allowing the materialto be captured by the material gripper 134.

In the example of FIG. 5, the air supply is transported to the airinputs(s) 306 of the air material mover 132 using tubes with the sourceof the air supply located elsewhere. In some embodiments, the source ofthe air supply may be attached to the actuator bar 130 using compressedair canister(s) or other appropriate storage container(s).

The material gripper 134 can secure a piece of material (e.g., againstthe outer surface of the air material mover 132) in order to move thepiece of material into a workspace. The material gripper 134 cancomprise a clamping mechanism that is attached to the actuator bar 130.For example, the clamping mechanism can include gripping or clampingelements 406 (FIG. 4) having clamping pads 502 at the end of fingers 504(e.g. structural members) that extend from a mounting bar pivotallymounted to the actuator bar 103.

An activation device such as, e.g., a piston 408 (or other linear orrotary actuator) can be activated to extend a piston rod coupled to theclamping mechanism through mechanical linkage, causing the clamping pads502 to pivot towards the air material mover 132 to grip a piece ofproduct material after the air material mover 132 is activated. Onceactivated, the clamp moves towards the outer surface of the air materialmover(a) 132 until it clamps the top layer of the stack materialsbetween the air material movers 132 and the clamping pads 502 of thematerial gripper 134. In some embodiments, the material gripper 134 maybe a pinching gripper, electro-adhesive gripper, or needle gripper, orother appropriate gripping or clamping device.

Once gripped, the actuator bar 130 can be repositioned to transport thepiece of material from the stack of materials to the work area. Theactuator bar 130 may have one or more material grippers 134 attached toit in order to secure the piece of material for transport. The actuatorbar 130 can be positioned over the stack of materials and, e.g., lowereddown to allow the air material mover 132 to contact the top of the stackof materials, and the air supply initiated to separate an edge of theuppermost (or top) layer of material from the stack and draw it towardsthe air material mover 132. Once the top layer of the material issecured between the material gripper 134 and the air material mover 132,the actuator bar 130 can be lifted and moved or repositioned over a workarea where the piece of material is released.

The air orifices 302 of the air material mover 132 can be positionedalong the lower surface of the air material mover 132 in an array toprovide manipulation of the entire edge of the top layer of stackedmaterial. The air orifices 302 can exit the surface at a low angle, forexample, in a range from 0 degrees to about 30 degrees or in a rangefrom 0 degrees to about 20 degrees. When the compressed air provided tothe air material mover 132 exits through the orifices 302, the airflowcreates a localized vacuum that lifts the material for gripping by thematerial gripper 134. In some embodiments, the air input may beactivated or deactivated to control which portions of the material edgeare manipulated.

It should be emphasized that the above-described embodiments of thepresent disclosure are merely possible examples of implementations setforth for a clear understanding of the principles of the disclosure.Many variations and modifications may be made to the above-describedembodiment(s) without departing substantially from the spirit andprinciples of the disclosure. All such modifications and variations areintended to be included herein within the scope of this disclosure andprotected by the following claims.

The term “substantially” is meant to permit deviations from thedescriptive term that don't negatively impact the intended purpose.Descriptive terms are implicitly understood to be modified by the wordsubstantially, even if the term is not explicitly modified by the wordsubstantially.

It should be noted that ratios, concentrations, amounts, and othernumerical data may be expressed herein in a range format. It is to beunderstood that such a range format is used for convenience and brevity,and thus, should be interpreted in a flexible manner to include not onlythe numerical values explicitly recited as the limits of the range, butalso to include all the individual numerical values or sub-rangesencompassed within that range as if each numerical value and sub-rangeis explicitly recited. To illustrate, a concentration range of “about0.1% to about 5%” should be interpreted to include not only theexplicitly recited concentration of about 0.1 wt % to about 5 wt %, butalso include individual concentrations (e.g., 1%, 2%, 3%, and 4%) andthe sub-ranges (e.g., 0.5%, 1.1%, 2.2%, 3.3%, and 4.4%) within theindicated range. The term “about” can include traditional roundingaccording to significant figures of numerical values. In addition, thephrase “about ‘x’ to ‘y’” includes “about ‘x’ to about ‘y’”.

Therefore, at least the following is claimed:
 1. A robotic system,comprising: an air material mover: a material gripper; a de-stackermodule; and processing circuitry comprising a processor, whereinexecution of the de-stacker module: positions the air material moveradjacent to an uppermost layer of material on a stack of material;activates airflow through an array of orifices extending across the airmaterial mover, the airflow separating an edge of the uppermost layer ofmaterial from the stack of material; and initiates gripping of the edgeof the uppermost layer of material by the material gripper.
 2. Therobotic system of claim 1, wherein the air material mover and thematerial gripper are coupled to an actuator bar.
 3. The robotic systemof claim 2, wherein movement of the actuator bar is provided through anindustrial robot.
 4. The robotic system of claim 2, wherein the materialgripper grips the uppermost layer of material between an outer surfaceof the air material mover and clamping elements of the material gripper.5. The robotic system of claim 4, wherein the outer surface of the airmaterial mover comprises an outward curvature.
 6. The robotic system ofclaim 5, wherein a localized vacuum is formed by the airflow through thearray of orifices traveling along the curvature of the outer surface,the localized vacuum separating the edge of the uppermost layer ofmaterial from the stack of material.
 7. The robotic system of claim 2,wherein the material gripper comprises a plurality of clamping elementsextending from a mounting bar pivotally mounted to the actuator bar. 8.The robotic system of claim 7, wherein the material gripper comprises anactuation device coupled to the mounting bar, the actuation deviceconfigured to rotate the plurality of clamping elements to grip the edgeof the uppermost layer of material.
 9. The robotic system of claim 1,wherein execution of the de-stacker module: moves the uppermost layer ofmaterial gripped by the material gripper to a work area; and releasesthe uppermost layer of material from the material gripper.
 10. Therobotic system of claim 9, wherein execution of the de-stacker modulerepositions the air material mover adjacent to a next uppermost layer ofmaterial on the stack of material after releasing the uppermost layer ofmaterial.
 11. The robotic system of claim 1, wherein the airflow isprovided by compressed air supplied to the air material mover.
 12. Therobotic system of claim 1, wherein the air material mover is positionedover the uppermost layer of material on the stack of material adjacentto the edge.
 13. A method for moving stacked material by a roboticsystem, comprising: positioning an air material mover adjacent to anedge of a stack of material layers; initiating airflow through an arrayof orifices extending across the air material mover, the airflowseparating an edge of an uppermost layer from the stack; gripping theedge of the uppermost layer with a material gripper, wherein thematerial gripper clamps the uppermost layer of material between an outersurface of the air material mover and clamping elements of the materialgripper; moving the uppermost layer; and releasing the uppermost layerfrom the material gripper.
 14. The method of claim 13, wherein theclamping elements comprise fingers extending from a mounting bar toclamping pads.
 15. A method for moving stacked material by a roboticsystem, comprising: positioning an air material mover adjacent to anedge of a stack of material layers; initiating airflow through an arrayof orifices extending across the air material mover, the airflowseparating an edge of an uppermost layer from the stack, whereininitiating airflow through the array of orifices comprises: supplyingcompressed air to the air material mover; and distributing thecompressed air to the array of orifices via at least one air chamber;gripping the edge of the uppermost layer with a material gripper; movingthe uppermost layer; and releasing the uppermost layer from the materialgripper.
 16. The method of claim 15, wherein the airflow from the arrayof orifices produces a localized vacuum along an outer surface of theair material mover, wherein the localized vacuum separates the edge ofthe uppermost layer from the stack.
 17. The method of claim 16, whereinthe separated edge of the uppermost layer is clamped between the outersurface of the air material mover and the clamping elements.
 18. Themethod of claim 15, wherein the air material mover and the materialgripper are coupled to an actuator bar.
 19. The method of claim 13,wherein movement of the air material mover and the material gripper iscontrolled via a robotic arm coupled to an actuator bar.
 20. The methodof claim 13, wherein the airflow from the array of orifices produces alocalized vacuum along the outer surface of the air material mover,wherein the localized vacuum separates the edge of the uppermost layerfrom the stack.